Sweet Christmas Kisses 4 will releasing next week on September 26! I'm super excited to share my contribution to the boxed set with you today. You can read the first chapter of Saving Mistletoe below! Enjoy!
Chapter One
Portland, Oregon
“No, no, no, no,” Ellen Meade chanted, glaring at the blank,
black screen of her cell phone in disgust. Hadn’t she charged it just a few
hours ago? With her luck, the charger
hadn’t been fully plugged in and she’d failed to notice in her haste to get out
the door.
What else could go wrong? This day, this whole disastrous
week, or was it year, might give her ulcers if she survived it.
She stopped on the downtown Portland sidewalk and glanced
around. Although she was only a dozen or so blocks from her office, she hadn’t
visited this particular part of town for a long time and had no idea how to
find her client.
With the client’s address and phone number trapped in her
dead phone, along with directions on how to find Mr. Smith’s office, she
experienced a moment of panic. Situations like this never happened to her.
Ellen was always organized. Always. She planned everything with care and
foresight, leaving no room for surprises or failures.
Yet, despite her best efforts, nothing had gone according to
plan recently.
Last year, her best friend had gone to Atlanta for a brief
visit, fallen in love with some hunky horse wrangler who turned out to be a
wealthy plantation owner, and married him a short time later. Tara and Brett
were the epitome of wedded bliss, especially with a baby on the way.
Not that Ellen begrudged her friend a single second of
happiness. Truly, she was thrilled Tara was living out her happily ever after,
even if it was in Georgia and Ellen remained in Oregon.
When they were younger, dreaming of how they would take life
by storm, Ellen had set her goals and achieved them with startling precision. The
list of achievements she pursued wasn’t long or complicated: graduate from high
school with honors, earn a full scholarship to college, graduate at the top of
her class, pass the bar exam, take a job with a firm that guaranteed promotions
and prestige, earn a partnership and get married — all before she turned
twenty-six.
After celebrating her birthday two weeks ago, she’d felt the
twinges of disappointment plucking at her soul. She’d failed to live up to her
own expectations. Without a boyfriend in sight, the possibility of getting
married seemed even more far-fetched than gaining a partnership at the firm
where she worked.
The partnership that opened up last month went, of course,
to the nephew of one of the founding partners. The man was severely lacking
brain cells, but Ellen couldn’t very well tell her boss that. She supposed
they’d figure it out soon enough. In the meantime, she assumed additional
responsibilities in her already overwhelming workload, including meeting with
this client whom she had no idea how to find.
A quick glimpse at her watch confirmed she had less than ten
minutes to find the building or she’d be late.
What she wouldn’t give for the good old days when public
telephones, and telephone books, could be found every few blocks. If she had
access to one, she could call her client. As it was, she knew she should have
written down the address instead of relying solely on her phone.
The July sun beat down on her in an unexpected heat wave. Sweat
trickled between her shoulder blades and slithered along her spine, increasing
her discomfort. She should have taken a cab, one with air conditioning.
Instead, she’d decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and take in the blue
skies, blooming flowers, and sweetness of summer on a stroll to meet Mr. Smith.
Now she was overheated, anxiety-plagued, dripping sweat, and about to be
unforgivably late.
“This is just perfect,” she muttered, dropping her phone
inside the leather bag she carried over her shoulder before adjusting the bag’s
strap.
“Think, think, think,” she said, rubbing her temple with one
hand and closing her eyes.
Her mind drew a blank. Not so much as a hint of the address
came to her. No sudden recall pointed
her in the right direction. No burst of brilliance helped her remember the client’s
phone number.
Frustrated and resolved to returning to her office to retrieve
the information she needed, she spun around and smacked into something warm and
extremely solid. Momentarily stunned, she was afraid of what she’d hit. She
cringed as she considered the possibilities of what she’d done.
The scent of leather and a man’s masculine fragrance mingled
with an aroma she vaguely recalled from summer camp when she was thirteen. She’d
spent six weeks learning how to ride a horse among the other activities.
What in the world was a horse doing in downtown Portland and
how had she blindly smacked into it?
Slowly opening her eyes, she glanced up at the scowling,
tanned face of a police officer as he sat astride his large chestnut mount. The
horse shook his mane and glanced back at her, as though he measured her worth
and found her severely lacking.
She pushed against the man’s muscled thigh to regain her
balance and took a step back. The contact with his leg left her further
unsettled than she’d been mere seconds before.
Who had muscles like that, anyway? His thigh felt like it
was made of steel. What was the guy, a fitness nut? The short sleeves of his
uniform shirt only accented his biceps and broad shoulders.
A brief perusal that started at the top of his hat and ended
at the toes of his shiny leather riding boots confirmed that the man was,
indeed, in prime physical shape.
His gaze held a hint of scorn as he continued to stare at
her with a disapproving frown.
“May I help you, miss?” he asked in a smooth voice that held
the hint of a drawl. He didn’t sound Southern, exactly, but he wasn’t from
Portland, that was for sure. The man had a rugged, outdoorsy look to him. His
seat on the back of the tall horse only accentuated the persona.
“No, thank you,” she said. Another step back nearly carried
her into two businessmen walking past her. One of them gave her a cool glare
while the other shot her an interested glance.
“Are you sure, miss? You seem to be a little lost.” The
officer’s expression didn’t soften as he held her gaze with eyes that were a
surprisingly clear shade of blue. In spite of his gruffness, Ellen couldn’t help
but notice the sculpted firmness of his lips, particularly the top one.
Unbidden, thoughts of kissing it flew into her head. The
only explanation she could latch onto was the possibility she had lost her
mind. That had to be it. Stress, too many hours on the job, and the fact her
last real date had been back in college definitely contributed to her current
enthralled state.
The officer leaned down from the saddle, studying her. “Are
you an attorney?” The frown lines on his forehead deepened and angry sparks
ignited in his eyes.
Shocked by his question, Ellen mutely nodded.
“Did you defend Jonathan Westmont a few months ago?” he
asked, a hard edge seeping into his tone.
“As a matter of fact, I did.” Ellen couldn’t think of any
reason this officer would know who she was, unless… She took a moment to
picture him in a dress uniform, with fury riding his features as he offered
testimony at the trial. If his hostile glares could have brought about her
demise, she wouldn’t have made it out of the courtroom alive. The high-profile
case and the fact she’d won earned her a hefty promotion and a promise she’d be
considered the next time a partnership became available.
Ellen had experienced her share of doubts about her client’s
innocence. However, her job wasn’t to judge him, but defend him. She’d done her
job exceptionally well. Hopefully, her client would learn from his near miss
with a prison cell as his abode and not find himself in a similar mess in the
future.
“Johnnie Westmont is as guilty as sin and thanks to you the
people he cheated won’t ever get their money back, or have any closure on the
devastation he caused.” The officer straightened and gave her a loathsome look.
“Not only that, but it’s just a matter of time before he does it again. You
should feel proud of yourself for making certain a criminal was allowed to go
free. If he’s the poster child for the types of people you represent, how do
you sleep at night?”
“Why do you seem to have such a vested, personal interest in
him, sir?” Ellen asked, affronted. In spite of her irritation, her curiosity sought
satisfaction. What did it matter to Officer
Handsome-And-Hotheaded? How dare he condemn her for doing her best for the
client?
“I don’t have a personal interest in him, but anyone smarter
than an idiot could see he was guilty. One of his victims just happens to be a
friend of mine. And I’m the one who found out about his scheme, which is why I
testified.” He gave her a long, observant glance. “Is there some reason you’re
wandering around here? Do you need assistance? Escorted somewhere? Arrested for
assaulting an officer?”
From the dark look on his face, she got the idea helping her
might give the man an acute case of indigestion. No doubt lingered in her mind
that he’d take great pleasure in hauling her in and locking her in a jail cell.
“No thank you, Officer,” she snapped and turned back in the
direction she’d originally headed.
Conscience pricked by his condemnation, she didn’t
want to think about all the concerns his questions stirred.
In fact, sleep had become an elusive wish at night since
she’d accepted her first promotion at the firm. The higher up the ladder she
climbed, the more she felt urged to leave behind the moral and ethical
compasses that had always guided her. She didn’t like representing clients she thought
were guilty, but when her boss told her to take a case, she took it without
question.
Lately, it was getting harder and harder to help clients she
knew were scamming, cheating, lying scum dressed in expensive suits.
Ellen had such big dreams, such high hopes about being a
high-powered, successful attorney. Now, her dreams inched toward delusions while
the power she’d fought hard to gain seemed false and empty at best.
Regardless, it wasn’t any of the police officer’s business
and today wasn’t the day to allow her mind and heart to engage in a heated
debate.
Even if she was lost,
she refused to admit to him how badly she needed to find her client’s office.
Her boss had stressed the importance of keeping Mr. Smith happy. Ellen had a
feeling showing up late wouldn’t sit well with the man.
The clip clop of the horse’s hooves on the sidewalk kept
step behind her as she marched forward, with no idea where she needed to go.
Half a block later, she tossed a glance over her shoulder to find the officer
and horse right behind her. She took a step to the right and stopped, turning
back with an accusatory glower.
“Is there some reason you are following me?” she asked,
indignant and growing annoyed.
“Who says I’m following you. I’m on duty and this is part of
the area I’m patrolling today.” He smirked. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”
Ellen swallowed her pride and narrowed her gaze. “Do you
know where to find the office of Smith and Matlock? They have an investment
firm somewhere in this area.”
The officer nodded. “I sure do.”
Out of patience, Ellen wanted to stamp her foot. “And? Where
can I find it?”
Those enticing lips curved upward in an almost grin as he
pointed to a building across the street. “Right there.”
“Oh.” Ellen looked at the building, noticing the sign out
front and the street numbers that jangled in her memory. “Thank you, Officer…”
“Tipton, miss. Burke Tipton.” With surprising politeness, he
tipped his hat to her then rode away.
Ellen watched him until he turned a corner before racing
across the street. As she hurried onto the elevator, she pondered if she’d see
the cranky officer again and felt vexed that she wanted to.
Pre-order Sweet Christmas Kisses 4 today for just 99 cents and have it delivered to your e-reader on September 26th!
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After spending her formative
years on a farm in Eastern Oregon, hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield turns her
rural experiences into sweet historical and contemporary romances filled with
sarcasm, humor, and hunky heroes.
When this USA Today bestselling author isn’t writing or covertly hiding decadent
chocolate from the other occupants of her home, Shanna hangs out with her
beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.
